What characteristic of Mercury, related to its axial tilt, enables the existence of Permanently Shadowed Regions (PSRs)?
Answer
Deep craters near the poles that never receive direct sunlight
Permanently Shadowed Regions (PSRs) exist because of Mercury’s small axial tilt. This tilt is so minimal that certain deep craters located near the planet's poles have floors that remain perpetually shaded from direct solar illumination. These regions act as highly effective cold traps, maintaining extremely low temperatures that are sufficient to preserve water ice and other frozen volatile compounds over vast stretches of time. This persistent cold environment contrasts sharply with the rest of the planet's scorching surface.
Related Questions
What is Mercury's specific spin-orbit resonance relative to its orbit around the Sun?What valuable accessible resource is preserved in Mercury's Permanently Shadowed Regions (PSRs)?What subsurface feature observed by the MESSENGER mission suggests ancient liquid reservoirs?What is the official term used to describe Mercury's incredibly thin atmosphere?What is the approximate temperature range experienced between day and night on Mercury's surface?Why is building self-sustaining biospheres utilizing local materials preferable to planetary terraforming on Mercury?What characteristic of Mercury, related to its axial tilt, enables the existence of Permanently Shadowed Regions (PSRs)?What composition is hypothesized for the ancient liquid material whose freezing and expansion may have formed Mercury's chaotic terrain?Unlike habitats on Mars, why must underground structures on Mercury function as entirely self-contained pressure vessels, even when buried deep?Besides intense heat, what environmental factor makes Mercury's surface hostile due to the near-total lack of atmosphere?